Lifenight, Confession, and Team Fun!!!

Hello! It is Team five blogging. A lot went on in Smiths Falls and Perth this week. It started with the intense life night on Sunday, to the confession night on Tuesday, then to the awesome team day in Ottawa.

Sunday was really amazing. Our life night was on how to bridge the gap between you and God; confession. I was really interested in seeing how the life night was going to go because it had an intense line-up. We began with games, then moved into a talk, did a drama called ‘Yellow’, and had an in-depth examination of conscience. We ended the night off by having prayer stations and praying with our youth.

So, the night started, and everyone was full of energy as usual. The games went really well, and everyone was listening during Rebecca’s talk (which was really good). The teens were even more intent when we did the drama ‘Yellow’, and had the examination of conscience.

It was kind of awkward when the prayer ministry started because this was new for the teens. I believe we were sitting for almost five minutes, and no one came to get prayers yet. So I turned to Rebecca, and asked her if we should just mention that if anyone has a tugging on their heart to be prayed over then they shouldn’t ignore it, or if we should just let the Holy Spirit work. We both settled for the Holy Spirit and as soon as that happened, two girls stood up and asked to be prayed over. From that moment on, almost all the teens were prayed over. From what I saw, it was a really powerful time. Some teens were crying, some looked deep in prayer, some looked like they just really wanted to change their lives and start new. The lifenight was so powerful, and the feedback was encouraging. The consensus of the feedback is that the night was intense, but amazing! It brought a smile to everyone’s face on the team just because we could see God’s work being done.

Then Tuesday we had a night open for the teens to go to confession and one teen showed up. We were all so excited that one teen showed up. I think I was personally really excited just because I wasn’t expecting any teens to go, but I was praying for at least one…and one showed up.

Team day was really fun. We went to Ottawa because we had to go there to get our van tires changed for winter, so we stayed in Ottawa and had a blast! We did activities like checking out Parliament, and going to little Italy for Supper, and then having fun at the Museum of Civilization. I must say…the best part of that museum was the kids section!

Well, Team Five-Alive is praying for all you other teams. We miss you all!

God Bless,
Shayla Doucette
Team 5, Perth – Smiths Falls

When do you get to see the Rockies and Saskatchewan in the same video?...

Hannah the blog - napper...

This is Hannah and I'm taking over the blog for Emma...Just kidding!

This weekend was awesome! Awesomeness came to us in the form of our brother and sister (supervisors), all the way from Ottawa. From the moment Marc & I saw Ian & Sarah at the airport, it was quickly established that this weekend would entail mass amounts of prayer, team growth, and some healthy competition.

We had a great time at our Edge night on Saturday on negative speech, worked really hard in the office on Sunday, and sharing an acappella team prayer. Team prayer happens daily when we pray with each other, for each other and for our ministry.

Then along came Team day. Pretty much, Team day is my favorite day of the week. We get to hang out as a team, just getting to know one another better and having some great laughs along the way. We started the morning the way all good things start: in prayer! After attending to some business, we had Men’s & Women’s sessions. Sarah, Erica, Marissa, Emma and I nearly choked on hubba bubba bubble gum playing a game. I even managed to blow a bubble about half the size of my face!

When we went back to the office, we each found coloured ribbons with our names attached to them. We each followed our ribbons around the building, and found giant puzzle pieces with affirmations for each of us (accompanied by some chocolate!). They instructed us to go to the church, where we put all of our puzzle pieces together and found a message from our brothers: “You are beautiful!” As if that wasn’t enough already, our brothers prayed over us too! How loved are we? And how wonderful are our brothers?!

To show them our appreciation, we didn’t beat them too badly when we played basketball later that evening. Marc, Erica and I were completely thrilled to be on the court once again, and soon realized that our competitive natures had not changed one bit. There were some friendly fouls (including Marc falling on top of me), great encouragement, and a sweet score at the end: approximately 22- 18 for the girls!

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Sarah and Ian on Tuesday, but we were so blessed to spend time with them this weekend! Our team grew so much closer and we know that our ministry will overflow with good things because of it. Upcoming events include an Edge night on Mama Mary this Friday, and XLT (Adoration) is starting up next week!

Well, it seems as if Emma will eventually reclaim this blog from me, so this is Hannah Bouwman, blog-napper extraordinaire, signing off!

God bless!

Over the mountains and here we go...!

Hey everyone, this is Adele Costanza from Team 2! Last week we were excited to spend our team day in Banff, Alberta. It was a chilly day but that didn't stop us from walking around the beautiful town; we had lots of fun visiting the little shops. Not to mention that the scenery was absolutely amazing!

On Thursday we had an evening retreat in Airdrie, AB for a youth group. It wasn't a very large group, there were only about 26, but it was a really great Encounter Evening, filled with lots of energy. I led a small group of grade 9 girls who were very interested in knowing more about their faith. They had a lot to say in small group. One in particular had a hard time believing God was real because of what other people would say. I said to her that there was nothing I could do or say to make her believe; if anyone was going to, it would have to be God Himself. I told her during the prayer time to ask God for a revealing of Himself to her. When the prayer time came, I prayed with all my girls and then went to go pray by myself. I was only praying for a few minutes when the girl who had a hard time believing came and knelt down beside me. She asked me if she could put her hand on my shoulder and pray with me. I said yes and got really excited inside because I knew in that moment the Holy Spirit was really working through her. It's those kinds of moments that set my heart on fire for this ministry.

Last Friday we started to make our way out to Beautiful BC. It was a long day but we managed to get to Merritt, BC with half an hour to spare! On Sunday we played music for their Mass; the parishioners really seemed to enjoy the music. Following Mass I was selling the Massive Worship CD; the priest was really excited about it and made an announcement. I ended up selling eleven!

On Monday we had a team day in Vernon, BC, so we headed up to the mountains! We went to a ski resort and hiked on some of the paths, where the boys had fun pushing us in the snow! It was nice to get some fresh mountain air and exercise!

We're looking forward to our upcoming Encounter Days and our trip to Kelowna, BC, where you will be hearing from us next week.

God bless,

Adele

Team 2

P.S. Happy Birthday Theresa Eppich, NET Ireland Team #1!

Adjustment, Adaptation, and Adoration

Sean from Massive Worship here again, the band just got back from a weekend full of events at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Metcalfe, ON. We led music at the three Masses, which many people seemed to enjoy. We had planned to project the lyrics for all to see and sing along with, but the church was simply too bright to see anything on the screen. Not wanting to sing at the congregation, but with them, we decided to play the most commonly known songs in our repertoire. Most people haven't heard them quite in our style, but the familiar words and melodies were all there.

All day on Saturday, Massive Worship led an Encounter day for all ages; and all ages showed up. There were youth from grades six to twelve and adults from age 27 to "never ask a lady her age"! We provided music throughout the day, of course, but also ministered through teaching, personal testimony, group discussion, and prayer. I sat in with the group of young people for the small group sharing, and I was shocked at the love for prayer among some of the teenagers.

Another shocking development was that we were sanely handling the encounter while missing a band-mate due to illness. The four of us present had more responsibilities than usual, but were not completely overwhelmed. For the evening events on Friday and Saturday, we welcomed singer/guitarist Nick Zambon into the band in Jesse's absence. We had a nice long rehearsal with him on Wednesday to prepare music for Friday's Eucharistic Adoration and Saturday's Massive Worship concert.

I didn't realize until afterward how great an idea it is to start off a weekend of ministry with an hour gazing at the Body of Christ, the true presence of God. I believe we received all the graces we could have possibly needed for the events in the next two days. The concert on Saturday night was the most impacting part of the weekend for me, but I am very glad to have started it all off with the reverence and prayer of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and to finish it in worship with Sunday Mass.

As a side note, if you are in Northern Ontario, look for us in Sault Sainte-Marie, Thunder Bay, and Ft. Frances this week!

God Bless,

Sean Flynn
massive Worship Band